The Assassin Dante
by AresAcord
Summary: This story is based in the middle of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. The main protagonist is a young assassin named Dante, he was not in the games nor is he based off of any Assassin's Creed character.


_**The Assassin Dante**_

Dante waited upon his perch high above in the trees, watching for the templar supply caravan he had been ordered to intercept. For the past week he'd been riding to get to this very spot were he would ambush them. Dante grunted, the past days of riding had left him tried and sore. Dante wrapped his cloak farther around himself and pulled his hood farther down his face to fight of the night's cold winds.

For a second the wind died down and he heard the faint but unmistakable sound for horse hooves and the creeks of wagon wheels. But after that faithful second the wind picked back up and the noise was lost in the wind. Dante buzzed with renewed energy and alertness, as he looked up the road and waited (for he still could not see his prey) he silently checked his weapons to make absolutely sure they were ready and, not for the first time cursed himself for his lack of crossbow bolts.

Slowly the caravan came into view; it surprised Dante when he realized that the convoy was much smaller than his informant had lead him to believe. It was only one wagon, guarded by small platoon of eight solders, ten if you counted the feeble old driver and the man beside him which couldn't be a day over twenty. They were posted at different positions around the wagon, two men on horses were stationed at the front and back of the cart (two in the front two in the back), and one man an either side of the wagon were on foot.

With practiced ease he climbed down from the tree only making the slightest of noises that where easily over powered by sounds of the solders horses and chain mail rattling with there every movement. When Dante was eight feet from the ground he jumped from the mighty oak tree that had been his vantage point since noon, and landed bending his knees to almost completely silence his fall. Hiding at the base of the tree in its huge shadow that concealed him completely in his dark clothes.

Dante extended the hidden blades from the sheaths in his vambraces, as he crept in the shadows of trees careful to avoid any moonlight that streamed though the thicket Dante saw, were up ahead the branches of trees where so close together that they formed a thick shadow across the road, Dante had spotted this during the wait for the caravan so when the shadow covered the soldiers Dante made his move. He came up to between the knights and in few seconds Dante leapt landing with one foot one the horse to his right and one foot one the horse to his left, and before the man could even grunt he stabbed the men at the base the neck severing the artery, spine, and esophagus the could not even let out a grunt for it killed then instantly. Dante, as quickly as he could, jumped down and tied the reins to the back of the wagon and climbed into it. There had been three good seconds before the moon shined on this back. Dante released a held breath that he had not realized he had been holding, and looked though the wagon for something he could use to tip the scales.

Dante planned to wait for the next time the branches concealed him but had no time for one of the guards let out a cry of surprise as he turned around and saw the horsemen slummed in there saddles all the blood from there bodies pouring out onto their horses flanks. Dante cursed under his breath as he listened to the other guards cry out in terror at the sight of there dead comrades. To Dante's luck they passed under another point where the shadow enveloped the wagon but this was a smaller one that only covered the cargo and to Dante's fortune the guards had stopped the wagon to inspect the dead bodies. Dante extended his blades again sat up in the wagon and swung his arms out as far as he could and was barely able to reach but he hit his marks, the artery's on the solders necks as he split them open they sprayed Dante's arms with crimson.

At the men's screams of agony the drivers reined the horses into gallop with there guards only seconds behind them. Dante smiled, this could not have gone more perfect, he leapt forward thrusting his blades into the spines of the drivers and twisted completely dislocating the spine.

Not losing any time Dante gripped the reins as the bodies fell off the seat of the wagon. The two remaining guards let out a cry of both shock and despair, then of vengeance, know I had been revealed and they thought they had the advantage over me. They rode up on both sides of the wagon; the one on my left with his spear and the one on my right had drawn his broadsword and was shouting a war cry. Dante laughed at there ignorance, he then pulled the reins as hard as he could to the left. The wagon swerved and crushed the horse and rider between a tree and the wagon with a satisfying cracking sound . In the process, broke the rear wheel on the left side of the wagon. As the wagon began to crash Dante jumped from his seat on the crashing heap onto the rider to his right, stabbing him with both hidden-blades. The force of the attack alone shot the man off his horse and his body hit the tree as he became lifeless.

Dante fell from the horse and rolled to help absorb the impact, but he grunted and cried out as his body came to a stop. After the air returned to Dante's lungs he stood and walked to the wagon and looked at the damage to the cargo. The wagon contained mostly weapons and food supplies. After writing the quantities of the goods in the wagon he took what food he'd be needing for the trip home. He unsnapped the only remaining horse from the destroyed wagon and rode the horse a quarter mile to a tree were his own horse Jack was tethered. After eating all his old remaining deer jerky he tied the other horse to Jack, then he climbed on Jack and rode home to Rome.

After three days of riding, swapping from one horse to another, Rome appeared on the horizon. It took nearly a half-day to reach the broad gates of the city which were opened for travelers and merchants to freely walk in. After nearly a half-hour of riding through the city Dante found himself at the entrance of the assassin's sanctuary. Dante was greeted by friends with shock and concern, for as one could imagine, Dante looked so tired they thought he would collapse. Dante slept for six-teen hours and awoke to give a full report of his mission to the master assassin of Rome. Dante had to prepare for the next battle that lay ahead. Tomorrow a templar general would arrive in the city. This general had been responsible for the death of Dante's family. He was going to seek his revenge, and nothing was going to stop him.

Dante awoke at dawn wearing new clothes and polished armor. He had also selected his weapons on the wall above his bed was an array of swords knives and weapons held there by tiny metal pegs that had been nailed into the ancient walls of the Sanctuary. Dante selected a long sword from the wall its thirty-two inch long blade was sharpened to perfection, the old guard below the blade had been recently reinforced with an iron plate, and it had an old leather handle which had been worn from use fit perfectly in his hands. Dante took a moment to admire the old sword it was the only possession he had from his family. This was the sword he used to kill his first man, when he pulled it from his dead father's fingers and used it to slay his killer. Dante made a very auditable sigh as he relived the old memory. Next Dante selected ten short throwing knifes each seven inches long and precisely weighed for throwing. Poison darts were not Dante's favorite weapon in fact he detested using them they were to cowardly, and difficult to use mid- battle in his opinion; yet he slid them into his belt all the same. A slightly use crossbow was next , it fit perfectly into a leather holster on is right shoulder, the crossbow was a masterpiece it had armor plating on the sides of the body and a small jagged knife blade at the top in case of close range encounters, and a tight

Dante stood on a roof top in front of the massive gates that the general, of the templar army, was suppose to enter and where he would ultimately meet his doom. All the guards who had been patrolling the roofs had been disposed of hours ago. Dante had personal killed three of them while in all there had been around twenty bodies to clear. But now was the moment truth, twenty assassins including Dante, were in position to strike. The plan had been simple, fifty of our most highest ranked assassins on the ground would attack the general and his personal guards. While they were confused from the ambush the assassins on the roofs would unleash a volley of arrows.

Just then the massive iron gates pulled open, to reveal a party of one hundred men. They had cargo of weapons and food, but what disturbed Dante the most was a huge crate that took up an entire wagon. Among the clear ring of trumpets was a loud harsh scream of a horn, which was the signal to notify the assassins the attack had begun.

Several explosions pulsed to life as the iron gates closed behind the small army killing several men and horses. Dante with his crossbow drawn loosed a swarm of arrows upon the men witnessing. Many fall at the fate of his shots and those of his brothers. Victory seemed near when the crate on the wagon burst open revealing a humongous cannon pointing right at him. Dante could only scream ''holy shi..'' as the explosion rattled the building that he had been standing on making it topple over. Dante had limited time and jumped from the building screaming as he landed. Battle instinct kicked in, running at the massive horde of bodies and steel. Arrows still raining down as another cannon shot went off killing two assassins and destroying three buildings.

Dante drew his sword and dagger and, in a hellish rage slew a multitude of soldiers. Moving with seemingly inhuman speed Dante slashed and stabbed at the chinks in his opponent's armor with blinding accuracy. After several hours which seemed like years, when Dante's limbs became heavy and his movements sloppy, a swordsman managed to hit him in the head with the pommel of his sword and he stumbled, stunned from the attack.

When he came to, Dante saw the same swordsman was standing over him, his sword ready to end Dante's life. Thinking fast Dante kicked the Templar between the legs. The man let out a whimper and fell on the ground holding himself. Dante's head hurt and swimmed as he stood up. He took a few moments to recover his weapons from where they'd had fallen. Dante heard a fierce war cry and, quickly turned crossing his blades into an X-shape to stop the blade that would have ended his life. The man who he had kicked had recovered quickly, though the expression on his face proved he was still in excruciating pain. Dante using a tactic he'd learned a long time ago tilted his sword to the side withdrew his dagger from the block and stabbed his opponent in between ribs. The man let out a high pitch squeal as the short blade drove the air from his lungs. Still continuing the same movement Dante spun his sword and sliding the blade down the hilt of the sword disarming the man and in one fluid movement stabbed the man though the gut the blade running all the way though so the hilt rest on the mans stomach ending his life.

Dante had no time to think, for as the light dimmed in the swordsman's eyes; a group of rallied Templar men came charging at him. At the head of the group there was a large man, in heavy-plate armor, welding a double-bladed ax. The man was already in the middle of an attack that would prove fatal were it to connect on Dante. On instinct and experience, Dante ducked making the corpse which was still on his sword to fall on top of him. A fraction of a second later, Dante heard the crack of steel and split the top half of his sword. Dante swore out loud, almost instantly Dante regained his composer, taking the dagger in his right hand leaving the remainder of his sword inside the man he'd most recently killed. Then in that moment Dante glimpsed a tall man in shinning armor, he sat atop a proud horse shouting orders at his men. He was trying to save himself more than his men, and seemingly by chance he glanced over at Dante and their eye's met. The knights' eyes were grey and cold, instantly Dante know that this was the man who had taken everything from him. Dante's reason for living was to kill the man and avenge his family. Now after years of training and fighting had brought him to this moment was the man he desired to destroy only sat one hundred yards away. Dante loosed a battle cry and charged.

Striking like lightning, killing left and right and before one could blink four soldiers had fallen. A blood-lust unlike any he'd ever experienced his eyes seemed to glow of a demon red. Everyman in sight both enemy and ally screamed in terror, Dante yanked a spear from a body of a man, not even seeing if he was assassin or templar. Running full speed at General Juan swinging and stabbing at everything in his path. But suddenly a group of enemies were overpowering a team of assassins. Still running full speed he zoomed passed the assassins and into the thick of Templars swinging his spear faster than a speeding arrow slew the men, after barked orders saying ''Kill any enemy in my path but the general is mine'' all this he did without slowing his pace, or pausing.

Throwing his dagger killing a man that blocked his way, and taking his spear before the body touched the ground. Suddenly, a hoard of heavy armed Calvary blocked his way. Dante kept running the anger inside him not wavering or faltering The Templar soldiers seamed scared by how sure this man was that he could kill them even though he was outnumbered. As Dante closed in on the men a volley of arrows came from the crossbows of his recently saved assassin brothers and engulfed the warriors killing all but one, Dante leapt high in the air far higher than the horses head, and lunged with the spears stabbing him in the heart and stomach. Dante landed gracefully on the horses end and took the riders place and charged the mighty horse at Juan who was fleeing to the cannon still firing its massive payload. At the base of the cannon Dante got sight of several gunpowder barrels. A smile touched Dante's lips, the cannon was in the process of being reloaded. Dante jumped from the horse and stabbed the man reloading it in the back. He grunted and fell at Dante's feet dead. Dante finished reloading the cannon and then put all the extra barrels of gun powder into the cannons opening. Pointing the cannon to the sky Dante lighted the wick and screamed ''Run for your lives'' and sprinted as fast as he could from the cannon.

He hadn't run far when a massive explosion rattled the very earth. Dante feet lifted into the air, as the fire burnt his back as it shot him forward sending him flying though the air. Time seemed to slow as Dante fell though the air seeing the battle-field and all the remains and he glanced over his shoulder to see the body of the general being burned into ashes before his eyes. Dante turned to face the battle field again and laughed uncontrollably as the fierily inferno engulfed his body and he was still laughing until he passed out. After what seem like hours the battle came to a close for after the leader had been slain and the cannon destroyed the battle was won and they were victorious.

Dante awoke in a cold room with a thin blanked over him. Bandages covered almost all of his body. His entire being seemed to be on fire as he came to his senses. A doctor was in the room fidgeting with several vials of medicine when he saw that his patient was awoke and sitting up he quickly said, "Don't move if your wounds reopen you're a dead man, it was hard enough getting them closed the first time". Just then the leader of the entire Assassin order walked into the room. Dante immediately stood body racked with the most intense pain and bowed to the great mentor, even against the protests of the doctor and his body. The old assassin spoke; his deep voice seemed to epee wisdom and knowledge. He said, 'Dante, word of your actions at the battle has reached my ears, of how you rallied the troops in the chaos of battle. How you fought like a demon destroying every thing in your path. I have heard rumors that you summoned fire from hell and flew from the blaze on wings of dragons. Dante laughed at the story the wise Italian gave him but in the confusion in his mind knew there was truth in this story. After being briefed by the mentor on Dante's side of the story, the doctor ushered the master ever-so respectively away so he could rest. A apprentice came in after the doctor left and while cleaning his burns and cuts said in a sweet voice, ''My brother was in the battle you fought in and because of your act's he is alive today and for that I am grateful.'' He bowed a deep bow almost touching his head to the floor. After he slowly removed some of the dirtier blood stained bandages. Dante gasped at the intensity of his wounds there were big swollen burns on his arms and legs, and an innumerable amount of small cuts with three deep long cuts long his chest. After cleaning the wounds and replacing the bandages the boy packed up and left the room. Well, thought Dante, maybe there's more to life than vengeance. Dante then passed into the deepest sleep he'd had in years.

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